Children's Fiber Art Projects

Aren't these the cutest things?

My Wednesday Fiber Arts students completed several great projects during the last class of our winter term. The one at left offered the students the use of a variety of skills as they created their Easter chick's nests.

The nests we created from a base of about two yards of yarn followed by short pieces of yarn that students dipped into liquid starch. Once a nest base was created the shorter yarns were layed in layers alternating with some natural twigs and dried grasses to form a small nest. Students were careful to leave an indentation in the middle to leave room the the eggs and chick which they felted using merino wool. Their chicks were then embellished with yellow feathers to create a tail and wings, and squiggly eyes and a bead were added for a beak. All components were secured to the nest with hot glue.

The children enjoyed the felting process which they had learned before and all remembered the basics for completing that task. They quickly figured out how to manipulate the felt to create an egg shape instead of the ball shape they had used for making their bracelets in our first class.

These lovely little yarn baskets were a delight and the children were happy to be taking them home. This too was a liquid starch project which were finally ready to take home after remaining in the classroom to dry. The yarns they used included some of their handspun as well as a thick and thin wool that they had kool-aid dyed in a prior class. Using a small bowl as a mold, students layered their starch soaked yarns making sure they cross each other to create a bond and allowed them to dry until next class. The only glitch with this one is you have to be sure that you cover the mold with plastic wrap so the starch does not adhere to the glass. These are fragile and needed to be sured up in a few places with a dab of elmers but they really were lovely little projects that represented several weeks of accomplishments into a final project.

I was proud for the children to be able to say that these pieces had some of their own hand spun, hand dyed yarns in them!

I am hoping that the children enjoyed my class well enough to sign up for the final school term. I am working on ideas for future projects to carry them forward with their fiber arts!

Grapes: "On It's Way to Wine"

I've just completed this piece to show at the Elliot Gallery at Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation which begins on March 19th. This is a group show featuring five artists who all use natural and organic materials to create their art.

I am pleased with the piece on which I chose to use my Japanese signature since it was inspired by the Sumi-e style that I so love. I spent a good long time trying to decide where the right placement was and finally decided based on the idea that it should be a part of the composition. I considered placing it in the lower right but felt that it became too large a part of the overall piece and deflected the focus. I didn't want the signature to take the eye away from the image and I feel I have accomplished that.

Let me explain my Japanese signature. I wanted to be able to occassionaly use a caligraphic signature on my Sumi-e and Hairlock Paintings. I ended up researching websites that offered name translations though I can't remember which one I used. My name, Gale is spelled so that it means a "strong wind" so the characters used mean just that!

大風 The symbols you see at left have not reproduced accurately in that the cross lines that look squiggly on the second character are meant to be horizontal but not uneven, however you get the idea.

I haven't decided how I will hang this piece for the show since I feel it is one that should be framed but framing this piece in Bermuda means that it is too large to easily transport back to Maine for my next show. So it will remain unframed for now.

I still have lots I want to do to prepare for the show but things are moving along well in spite of myself :-)

Getting Ready for the Show Opening March 19, 2009!

Hard to believe that my group show is only a few weeks away! YIKES! Always so much to do and so little time.....
The good news is I am not fretting about it which is obvious since I still have paintings I want to complete and her I sit writing in my blog!
I try to remind myself of my belief that things will go exactly as they are supposed to, that there are no mistakes. It is I who invents the notion of a mistake when I am unhappy with the outcome caused by my own expectations, and so it is I who needs the attitude adjustment.
I so often have heard in life that we are what we think, we are what we do, we are what we say....
SO I say I will be ready and it will be the best that I am able to be at that time and I will be very good with that!

I'd post a copy of the invite but I am MAC illiterate and can not figure out how to present a PDF file to you from my PC. Technology will always be my nemesis. It's probably a simple thing but my ageing brain just isn't in that place right now and I have no one to tutor me on it!

So instead I will give you a synopsis.....

Artful Organics: A Montage to be shown at the Elliot Gallery, Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation, Bermuda opens with a reception on Thursday, March 19th from 6-8pm.
The show runs from March 17 - 28th and is open from 10am -2pm Tuesday through Saturday or by appt.

Artists Ronnie Chameau, Gail Graham, Ronnie Lopes and Bob Patterson, and me will feature our works. The Common thread to be seen is our use of organic materials from various sources. Utilizing parts of different plants and or animal fibers, these materials may give the illusion that each belong together or retain their original identity.

This will be a unique and interesting show! None like it has been done or if so, not often. The art represented from renown Bermuda artist Ronnie Chameau includes her Banana Dolls and Ornaments as well as her bark and leaf paintings, gourd vessels and various baskets. Bob Patterson who has been a fine cabinet maker for years will show his miniature doll furniture collection as well as necklaces that he creates using local seed pods and other seeds washed up on the Bermuda shores from far away places. Ronnie Lopes work reminds me of New England with his stick made outdoor furniture and arbors while Gail Graham brings a sense of elegance to the organics with her hand made Silk Lace.
I round out the mix with my Hairlock Paintings to include murals that I created for the Fiber Center at Fryeburg Fair when I was guest Artist in 2007.
I will post some pics of the show once it is hung for all to see.
In the mean time.... Spring IS coming :-)

Art with Social Intent

Ok, so last year I entered one of my Hairlock Paintings in the Bermuda Charman prize competition and the deadline has come around for this year's event! When I received the notice for "calls" to enter, I noticed that this year's criteria had changed. The big change in content was that they were looking for pieces with "social intent".

I hadn't a clue as to what that meant! Thanks to the internet, a short search taught me that they were looking for a piece that would encourage social debate or discussion of a political or governmental nature. Hmmmm.....

More than a year ago, I had created a sketch of a fiber and wire sculpture that I called "The Woven Womb". It was based on a dream or a vision that I had... I can't really remember which. I only remember that I had seen this image in my mind and put it in my sketch book with the idea that some day I would create this sculpture; a hammock like wire armature woven with fiber, holding a fetus....

I had been thinking of this piece recently with the idea that I would create it for my upcoming show at Elliot Gallery in March but when I got the notice of the criteria for the Charman Competition, I immediately thought of my "Woven Womb" and how this could represent a very serious debate of both a political and governmental nature! My original idea for this sculpture though couldn't have been further from the act of abortion. I actually saw it as a representation of life in wire and fiber.

For the purpose of the Charman Competition, I titled the piece "The Woven Womb: Who Should Choose?". It just so happened that the universe had shown me an image that inspired a piece of art that fit the criteria needed for this particular competition! Serendipity!

It is important to note that I do not believe that I would have ever chosen abortion had I been faced with that option, however, I do believe in the right for the individual woman to choose. But, that's not what this piece is meant to say. It is simply meant to offer the idea for a debate as to "who should choose?" Who has the right to make such an important decision for both the mother and the unborn child. I believe that it is a subject that will never be at rest. It is too personal, too viceral, to emotional for any group to ever make a decision one way or the other that will rest into infinitum.

So here is a picture of my sculpture. It was hard for me to get a good image of the work since it is so dimensional, but you will get the idea.... IF you look carefully you will see an umbilical cord floating within the womb that is being threatened by the surgical scissors....

And that's the way it is......

My Most Recent Commission!

"Skipper" is a Terrier mixed breed dog which I was asked to do a painting of during the Bermuda Fiber Festival at Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation last December. I have just completed him and am quite pleased with the results!
He will be fitted for a frame today in preperation for hanging in my group show at Elliot Gallery at Kaleidoscope in March.
I have been enjoying the opportunities to create custom commissions of pets. I find the work challenging as well as rewarding and look forward to more work of this kind in the future!
See the side bar for other "pet paintings" that I have created.
Anyone having interest in having a portrait of their pet done in Hairlock Painting can send me an email with a photo of your pet and I will contact you with details of how to proceed.

Kool Aid Dyeing with 5 & 6 yr olds at Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation in Bermuda

My 5 & 6 yr old students had a great time yarn painting this week!

Using the handspun that they did last week and adding some lopi thick and thin, students had a hand at painting their yarns with Kool - Aid!

It was little Maxine who first discovered that the orange placed next to the blue turned a section of her yarn green!

The children were very excited with the transformation of their yarns from the drab white to rainbows of color using what they referred to as "yummy" smelling non toxic dyes.

They each took the strand of yarn in their hands home for show and tell but the remaining yarns are being kept at KAF for safe keeping to be used in a future weaving project! They can't wait!

Next week the children are on winter break but when we resume we begin our weaving segment of the term. Our first project will be fast and fun! We will weave "Mug Rugs" using a small frame loom, colored cotton warps and fabric strips for a quick study on weaving. This class will act as a tutorial for subsequent weaving projects; a woven yarn coil pot and a wire and fiber amulet which they will turn into either a pin or a pendant. It is this project that I plan for them to use their beautiful hand dyed, hand spun yarns!

Watch for more photos of their accomplishments!

Teaching Children to Spin Wool at Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation in Bermuda!

Success with Spinning!

Here are my 7 & 8 yr old Fiber students showing off some of their hand spun yarns.

I had a great time teaching this class. Not only did they learn the priciples involved with spinning fiber into yarn but I learned a thing or two about teaching it!

My goal with this class was for children to understand exactly what it means to spin yarn. I wanted them to realize how the twisting motion gives the fibers strength while bonding them together. The challenge was, how could I do this without them having to worry about keeping a spindle going and remembering everything that you have to, to learn to drop spindle. This class was more basic that that....

I had used clip clamps to teach them how to braid and decided this might be a good option for spinning as well. This allowed them to focus on the actual spinning concept without any other mental or dexterity challenges.

I had them begin with 4-6" pieces of coarse pencil roving which I taught them to draw out a bit before begining to spin/twist the fibers. After they had spun the full length, I showed them how to fold it in half and let it twist on itself to ply it. EVERY student found success!

After they had practiced a bit with the short coarse fibers I gave them each a longer piece to work and then moved them on to white merino which I intend for them to dye with Kool-Aid in our next class. I found that this clip method though great for teaching the concept and for shorter pieces, is difficult for them to do a long piece with since there is no method of winding the spun yarn. If they let their yarn go for any reason (loss of focus for example) their work untwisted and this was understandably frustrating for them since they had to do it over again. I was able to find a happy medium but learned that I will only use coarse wool and shorter lengths for this level since if you are a seasoned spinner you know that the coarser wool is stickier and stays spun more readily without too much effort.

Never the less, EVERY student completed three lengths of white merino which they will dye next week and then use in an upcoming weaving project.

Here is a look at their good work! They did a fine job and were very proud of their accomplishment!

One of the greatest joys and compliments that I have received from teaching this class has been that every week as the children leave my class, I hear at least one parent exclaim something like this. "Did you make that?" and when the children say yes, I hear them ask again "YOU made that?" with total surprise.

Pure honey to my ears :-)

I don't think it's that the parents don't think highly of their children's abilities necessarily. Instead I think this is because they perceive that this would be difficult for them to do, let alone their small children. This has made me realize how we as adults, put OUR OWN limitations on what a child can accomplish.

I hope that this is a lesson that I will remember!

Until next time!